B.J. Penn christened 2008 by painting the Octagon red and submitting Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to capture the lightweight championship. Half a world away, Shinya Aoki emerged as Penn’s chief rival and closed out the year by twisting and wrenching Eddie Alvarez’s leg like a dog with a bone at K-1 “Premium 2008 Dynamite.”

In between were triumphs and tragedies, ups and downs, extreme highs and depressing lows. EliteXC landed a landmark television deal with CBS and then promptly petered out alongside the International Fight League. A new breed of fighter burst on the scene, as Thiago Alves, Rashad Evans, Gegard Mousasi and Brock Lesnar all made significant waves in their respective weight divisions and took the baton from aging gladiators like Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes and Randy Couture. Sadly, the sport lost Justin Eilers, Justin Levens, Chute Boxe trainer Osmar Dias and former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner, all of whom died prematurely. Calling it an eventful year would come off as a gross understatement.

With that, Sherdog.com unveils its remaining 2008 awards: Round of the Year, Comeback Fighter of the Year, Breakthrough Fighter of the Year, Upset of the Year, Robbery of the Year, Beatdown of the Year and Event of the Year.